


On Taking Care of a Tzuyu

by AltonaFalcon



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, Family, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-03-08 15:51:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13461501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AltonaFalcon/pseuds/AltonaFalcon
Summary: Jihyo found a stray cat and named her Tzuyu. She did not expect her to turn into a girl the day after. Chaos ensued, and it was up to the girls to teach Tzuyu how to be not just human, but a worthy member of TWICE.





	1. Intro

Hello all, this story is born as a desperate attempt for a foundation, no matter how nonsensical, for Jitzu fluff. You guys may not like this, but I'm being so driven by the adorable force of this pairing that I can't stop. So... sorry. And welcome to my story!

Before we start, please accept my shortcomings that will be present throughout the narration. Being a straight and really single male, I royally suck at describing clothes. Also, my knowledge about Korean (or lack thereof) forced me to tell everything language-related content as if they were speaking English, and using alphabetical letters. And no, English is not my first language either, so I apologize for the crappy grammar as well.

The story will, I project, be written in a third-person omniscient POV, but there will be a lot of Jihyo's. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Twice.

 

_________________

“Shoot…. And it’s my favorite top too.”

Jihyo, the proud leader of TWICE, the motherly figure of everyone else, winced as she looked down on the state of her attire in dismay. For this occasion only, one where she could have the whole entire day to herself, Jihyo had donned a dark pink tank top over a plain white shirt. (AN: imagine her outfit in Likey). While the clothing itself had little to flaunt, it really complimented the singer’s figures- especially her chest, the only area that stayed proudly voluptuous after the hard-earned weight loss. 

At any rate, she wasn’t able to enjoy the fabulous feeling- she was soaking wet and irritated, all thanks to the rain suddenly pouring down as she was leisurely sightseeing in the neighborhood park. To add insult to injury, she apparently stepped into some kind of grovel in the hurry for shelter; now every step she took felt gritty, sandy, and occasionally painful when a particularly pointy grain scrapped against her skin. Long story short, she felt pathetic.

That did not mean though, that she looked the way she felt. With the wet T-shirt and the tank top now drenched and sticking to her body, making her look a lot more sensual than her usual cheerful. Normally, such illegally erotic images could seriously threaten her safety should she be alone; lucky for her, no pervert would bother venturing around the playhouse in the middle of a random park in the middle of the rain. Dealing with the usual catcalls on the streets was irritating enough.

Speaking of catcalls… Cats were cute. Jihyo loved cats a lot. Closing her eyes, she could just imagine having one bundled in her arms, their fluffy fur tickling her skin, their meows soothing her ears like…

“Meowrghhghrgh.”

Jihyo’s head snapped up. That imaginary meow was strangely realistic, not to mention highly un-dreamy. Wasn’t it supposed to be, like, more melodious and adorable?

“Meowwwwwww.”

Yes, that’s more like it, albeit still too hoarse. Jihyo nodded to herself in satisfaction, before bolting up and looking around. That’s definitely not her imagination anymore… There was undoubtedly a cat around, and it did not sound healthy.

“Meow? Meow!!” Jihyo stood up and slowly advanced to where she thought the sound came from, no longer caring about the rain. Her imitation of the cat was poor and highly unnecessary, but she needed another meow to pinpoint the location and had no other idea.

After a few more pathetic exchange of meows, the leader of TWICE finally found her target: A white cat lying underneath a swing seat nearby, looking dirty and exhausted. 

“Oh no, you poor thing.” Jihyo gasped in worry and gingerly picked said cat up. It did not react much; save for a slight jolt upon contact, the half-dead cat was too tired to put up a fight. Its head was the only thing active; the cat stared at her with apprehension.

No longer caring about the rain, Jihyo ran as fast as her legs could take her back home.  
_______  
“Jihyo-unnie, you’re back! Man, you’re soaking wet aren’t ya?” Greeted Dahyun, the person sitting nearest to the front door. She tilted her head in confusion as Jihyo bolted in frantically. “Unnie, what are you…”

“Guys! This little thing needs help!” As all members present stared in shock, their leader practically slid into the living room, holding up something white and dirty.

“Jihyo, you take care of the floor next time. I just finished cleaning…” Nayeon’s irritation dissipated quickly when she saw what her dongsaeng brought in. “Oh my god, it’s a cat! What happened to it?”

“A cat?” That got the attention of the whole room, even Momo who was napping soundly. They all gathered around the cat as Jihyo put it down a makeshift bed, or Chaeyoung’s hat. Being surrounded caused the cat to be more restless, it frantically looked around everyone fearfully, and let out a weak hiss.

“Hey! That’s my…”

“Hush, little Chaeyoung.” Jeongyeon interrupted her complaint. Chaeyoung pouted. “Quick, someone grab something to eat from the fridge. Some milk too. And a towel. And a hairdryer. And spread out girls, you’re scaring it.” The stern order from the short-haired girl got everyone scrambling for the objectives. Momo, who was still blurry from sleep, was cleanly knocked back to her bundle of pillows by Mina, who was bolting towards the kitchen.

“Ah, what the hell.” Said Momo, who decided against sitting up, and promptly closed her eyes again.

After a few chaotic moments, involving a really loud crash and a limping Sana, the girls finally gathered what they needed. After a few more spiteful moments when they fought for who got to feed and dry the cat, it was finally clean and healthy again. As soon as it could stand up normally, the cat ran under the sofa.

“… Well, that was ungrateful of him.” Nayeon commented bluntly. They were now having a mini staring contest with the cat, with most TWICE members lying on the stomach and staring into the dark space beneath the sofa. It was almost completely dark, save for the pair of marble blue eyes staring back at them.

“You can’t blame him unnie, all cats will do this when they are scared.” Jihyo, finally calmed down, defended the cat. “It’s not like we own him.” Nayeon shrugged, knowing her leader was right.

“So… what do we do now?” Sana asked sitting up. She then laughed at how everyone was sprawling on the living room, including an oblivious Momo who was asleep, also on her stomach.

“Leave him be for now. We should discuss what to do with him.” Said Jihyo, to which everyone agreed. They all got up from their compromising position and found a comfortable spot to sit, except Jihyo herself who stayed motionless, her eyes never leaving the abandoned cat.

“… Anyway.” Dahyun coughed. “I don’t like cats. Or dogs. Or any animals that move a lot, like Sana-unnie. All they do is run around and mess up everything, like Sana-unnie.” This ilicited a snicker from the others. “Seriously! If we’re keeping it, I want it kept away from me and Chaeyoung’s room.”

Only one part of what she said was heard by Momo. “We’re keeping it?” She perked up from the pile of pillows. “We’re keeping it! Yay!” The Japanese girl cheered loudly.

“You’re not even listening, Momo-unnie!”

“Awwww, but I wanna play with…” Chaeyoung complained.

“Hush, little Chaeyoung.” This resulted in Chaeyoung tackling Dahyun down for a battle of tickles.

Watching on in amusement, Sana directed the talk back to the main topic.

“I like to keep it too. If anything, just to tick off Dahyun. I helped you all the way back on the mountains, and you still treat me like that.” Sana referred back to their trip to Switzerland one week ago.

“Me sorry!” Dahyun did an aegyo in an attempt to appease the sulking Sana.

“I want to keep him too!” Gurgled Nayeon, drinking the milk.

“Me as well!” Mina chimed in. 

“You take care of the litter then Mina-unnie.”

“No way!”

As the members argued about who had to take up hygiene duty, Jihyo was slowly luring the cat to her.

“Here, here. Good kitty.” With some miracle, the cat actually moved out of its hiding place. It moved apprehensively, but steadily towards Jihyo’s outstretched hands. She waited with the patience of a saint, when it finally followed her hand out of the couch and into the bright light. The leader slowly lifted the cat up and cradled it in her arms tenderly, lest it got frightened and scamper away.

“Awww… kawaii…” Sana cooed. “It’s all white! Only the top of the head is black. Certainly looks like hair to me.”

“So what should we call him?” Jihyo asked, knowing everyone is looking at the animal she was holding. With its fur dry and cleaned of dirt, the cat was lovely. While nowhere near fluffy looking as they imagined, it actually maintained a graceful look despite being malnourished.

“… Let’s call him Dog.”

“It’s not a he Dahyun, It’s a she. I just checked it. And, what the hell?”

“What? It’s fun.” As Sana and Dahyun got into yet another argument, Jeongyeon voiced her opinion.

“I think you should pick the name, Jihyo. It does seem quite attached to you already.” Said the short-haired girl.

“So what are we keeping again?” Asked Momo, whom – up to this point – no one could tell if she understood anything.

“A cat, Momo-unnie. Jihyo-unnie found a cat, and we’re keeping it.” Explained Chaeyoung patiently. “And because you were asleep the entire time, it drank all your milk.” She winked at Nayeon, who silently mouthed a ‘Thank you’ behind Momo’s back.

“What!!!!!!!!!”

Amidst the commotion, Jihyo stayed silent. She finally moved take off her bracelet and put it around the cat’s neck. It stared at her in confusion, but not resisting. The leader smiled fondly at this.

“I’ll name her… Tzuyu.”

_________

That's it for the first chapter guys!


	2. Intro (continued)

Jihyo woke up to a beautiful morning. The sky had all but cleared up after the rain, revealing the endless deep-blue sky and the faint smell of petrichor. No sun yet, she thought, guessing the time to be somewhere around 5:30. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the leader smiled to herself upon recalling what happened yesterday.

___

“… Chu…zoo?” Asked Momo, confused. “Momoring doesn’t understand.” She did not try to hide her confusion either.

“No Momo, Tzuyu.”

“Like, DBSK’s Yoochun backwards?”

“No, that’s Chunyoo. Tzuyu.”

“Like, that strategist in Romance of the Three Kingdoms?” 

“That’s close, but no. That’s Zhou Yu. I mean Tzuyu.”

“Like that good feeling when you see someone’s misfortune?”

“No Momo, that’s Schadenfreude. And, what the hell?”

“Momo doesn’t know~”

“Tzuyu. Like, do it with your lips. Tzu. Yu.”

This time Jihyo pronounced the name slowly, with careful lip movement for everyone to see.

“… Tzuyu. Why this name, Jihyo-unnie?” It was Chaeyoung’s turn to ask. She finally came to terms with the fact that they were having a cat in their shared house. Her coming around was with no little help from all the cute GIFs of cats that Mina and Sana shoved into her face. Jihyo shrugged.

“I don’t know. I just like the fact that when you pronounce it, your lips have to be all pouted out. It’s so cute.” Everyone took a second digesting this information, then nodded slowly.

“Well if you put it like that… It’s cute indeed.” Nayeon smiled.

“Nayeon-unnie, do you mean, ‘if you POUT it like that’?” Everyone groaned.

“Momo!”

“…. Anyway.” Mina coughed. “We have work to do guys. Tomorrow we have to talk to our managers, though I’m sure it’ll be okay. Also, where should we put Tzuyu?”

“Not my room!” Said Dahyun, making Chaeyoung pout.

“Of course she’ll stay with us. Our room is the biggest in the dorm after all.” Mina said. Sana signaled her agreement with a hasty nod.

“True… I do wonder though, why does that room have four beds for three people?” Jeongyeon wondered out loud. One second passed, before Chaeyoung offered an answer.

“I know! I can sleep there and play with Tzuyu, and Dahyun can stay back in our room.”

“Hey! Don’t leave me alone!” Said cat hater tackled Chaeyoung again.

“I wanna take her to dance practice.”

“That was really random, Momo-unnie.”

“Yes, but so is a cabbage with spikes.”

“Wha…”

“Actually Momo-unnie, I like that idea. We’ll definitely bring her to our dance studio.” Jihyo unexpectedly agreed to Momo’s suggestion. She would never, in a million years, expect what events would transpire when they actually brought Tzuyu to the dance studio.

______

Nor would she expect to wake up to the scene in front of her. Last night, the senior girls put together a fortress of sorts on the spare bed, from their spare pillows and blankets. In the middle, Jihyo put down the white cat now known as Tzuyu, who looks around warily but made no move to escape.

On the bed, where Tzuyu should be lying asleep, now laid one very beautiful, and very naked girl. She was curled up in fetal position, her slender arms huddled between her torso and her heavenly long legs. Her silky black hair, while disheveled and messy, did not obscure her sleeping face. Jihyo found herself staring dumbfounded at the angelic features of the unknown girl, from her slightly parting lips to her flawless cheeks, adorned by a cutely wrinkling nose in between. She did not seem entirely comfortable in her sleep, deduced Jihyo.

As a motherly reflex, TWICE’s leader quietly moved to cover the stranger with a blanket. Fortunately, she did not wake up; the girl instinctively snuggled closer to the newfound source of warmth. Her frown was replaced with a slightest of a smile, which make Jihyo’s heart skip a beat.

Just as quietly, she moved back to her bed, then promptly fainted.

\-------

“Jihyo! Jihyo, wake up!” The girl in question woke up to someone’s quiet, yet frantic, hiss.

“Hm… Nayeon-unnie?” She groggily replied, opening her eyes to see her unnie’s panicking face.

“Who is that girl? Why is she sleeping in our room?”

It took Jihyo another second and one look at the other bed for reality to hit her. And when it did, it hit her hard.

“Oooooh… it’s not a dream…” She murmured to herself. “Nayeon-unnie, I have no idea either. When I woke up earlier, she was already there! I must have fainted out of shock.” Jihyo looked around. “What time is it?”

“It’s six AM. No one else is up yet. Look Jihyo, we have to do something. I’m in shock too you know.” Jihyo quickly reached out to her unnie, guiding her to sit on the bed beside herself.

“Let’s take a deep breath and think about this Nayeon-unnie. Okay first… how did she get in? First in the house, and into our room, and no one noticed a thing? Also, unnie ah… I covered her up, but she is not wearing any clothes under that blanket.” That made Nayeon blush furiously.

“Nothing is making any sense!”

“Okay look, we’re not in any danger, so there’s no reason to panic unnie. We have the number advantage, so we can just confront her when she wakes up. Still, people driven into a corner CAN be pretty scary, so just the four of us here is enough. Having the whole group in here to surround her would surely be bad.”

At times like this, the older girl was grateful that everyone (herself included) had voted for Jihyo to be the group leader.

“So unnie, let’s go wake up Sana and Mina. Quietly, just as how you woke me up, please.” 

“Nae.” Nayeon nodded.

______

After several quiet yet frantic minutes, the four eldest members of TWICE were all gathered around the bed.

“She’s really pretty.” Sana commented. Jihyo agreed with her, but decided against voicing her opinion.

“Let’s do it?” Mina whispered, with a hint of uncertainty. “Wake her up, I mean.”

“Yeah, let’s.” Nayeon took it upon herself to reach out and gently nudged the strange girl’s shoulder.

“Heyyyyy…. Wake uppp… Anneyeong…” Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing bright round irises that could probably outshine stars. Despite being awake and stared at by four girls, the stranger did not make a move; rather, she stayed in the exact position she was in, opting to look at the person sitting directly in front of her. Which, in this case, was Mina.

“Wow… her eyes are so pretty.” Mina blurted out against her will. Surprisingly, the girl in front of her still did not move, nor make any indication that she heard it.

“Um… Are you listening?” Jihyo decided to say something. The girl turned to her. “Oh, you are.” Jihyo half regretted making any sound now that she was subject to the pretty stare. Only half regretted, because damn, those eyes were beautiful.

Still, the girl in bed did not say anything in response.

“You think she doesn’t understand Korean?” Nayeon asked the group, her eyes not leaving the target. And sure enough, she was now stared at by you-know-who. “Because she can hear us, but she’s not answering.”

Jihyo nodded almost imperceptibly, but not answering. Because she was focused on a particular object currently taking resident on the girl’s neck. Her bracelet.

“Hey, isn’ that my…” She reached out towards the girl.

Only then did the stranger move, for the first time ever. She swiped Jihyo’s hand away with her own, giving a threatening… 

“Meowww.”

One second passed by with all members present frozen in utter shock, then came the verbal expression that one-handedly marks this story as Teen and above.

“Oh my fucking God.”

________

That's it for the intro guys! Tzuyu the cat turned into Tzuyu the human, and thus begins TWICE's adventure to raise her as a proper human being!


	3. Intro (last part)

It was when all hell broke loose.

It started with the stranger, after rudely swiping off Jihyo’s hand from her body. She caught sight of her hand, and her eyes widened.

And she screeched.

This goes back a bit in time. Having spent the longest time training in JYP Entertainment, Jihyo had met her share of girls. Some of them were cool and collected, and some were loud and hyperactive. With that said, shouting and shrieking had become part of her life. From Jeongyeon’s uncharacteristically high pitch when cooking, to Momo walking in on MiChaeng’s kinky bathroom activities. The sound, thereafter dubbed as “The Japanese Cry”, left Jihyo hearing static for the rest of that week.

Still, it was merely a loving whisper compared to this one.

Man, that girl can screech. Sure that was loud enough to startle the entirety of Seoul, let alone members inside the TWICE house.

Looking back, Jihyo understood quite well why the strange girl was so distraught.

But, back to the story. Said girl held up both her hands in front of her, and continued to scream in utter horror. As luck would have it, she also caught sight of her reflection in the mirror that- for the sake of the story- was positioned directly in front of the bed, also the general direction at which the terrified girl was looking.

And as she did, her breath hitched in her throat, and she fell back down at the bed with a light thump. When Jihyo and the others recovered enough to get up from the ground and fearfully peer on the bed, they found the girl was no longer conscious. Somehow she had managed to freak herself out to the point where she fainted merely by looking in the mirror.

A few more second passed when senior members of TWICE tried their best to process the astronomical amount of WTF running rampant inside their brains, and Nayeon finally spoke up.

“We’ll see you in the common room Jihyo.”

“What do you mean unnie?” Asked Jihyo, confused.

“We’ll go talk to the others. You say here and get her dressed.” Sana and Mina did not need to be told twice. Having seen fit to hug each other tightly enough to respectively make Dahyun and Chaeyoung jealous throughout the ordeal, they snuck outside as quickly as humanly possible.

“… Oh…”

“Yes, cause we’re not doing it. It’s your Tzuyu.”

There she said it, the ridiculous notion that Jihyo was too afraid to think about, something that might very well be true.

_______

Mina ran to Jeongyeon and Momo’s room, only to be greeted by the same sound she just escaped from.

“Momo-unnie, what the fuck?”

“Mina! I heard this wonderful scream just now, and I need to practice to get to that level!” In the corner, Mina could just see a highly grumpy Jeongyeon, who was banging her head against the wall, and decided against asking how the short-haired girl felt.

“Why do you even want to scream like that?”

“Momo doesn’t know, but it’s fun.”

“Okay I have no time for this. Listen,…”

Mina told the story, and Momo went deathly quiet. Jeongyeon just stared in disbelief.

“… Okay, this time seriously, Momo doesn’t understand.”

_______

Sana wasted no time diving into the maknae line room, and subsequently, into Dahyun’s blanket. Only then did she manage to calm down a little.

“Sana-unnie, what happened? Who was that?” Chaeyoung asked from her own bed, as Dahyun chose to stay quiet and stroke the older girl’s disheveled hair.

“Guys… Something really unbelievable happened.”

“How unbelievable?”

“Do you know I once kissed Taylor Swift?”

“Unnie!” Dahyun was not going to stay silent to that.

“See, you can’t believe it. Still this one is even more absurd.”

“Let me guess. Nayeon-unnie won an Oscar.”

“That is completely possible, Chaeyoung.”

“YOU won an Oscar?”

“Now that’s just hurtful. This is like, something supernatural Chaeyoung-ah.”

“C’mon, how weird can it be? Can’t be that cat Jihyo-unnie found yesterday suddenly turned into a human or something.” Dahyun snorted, looking down at Sana for approval, only to receive a look of astonishment and horror.

“… What? Did I say something weird?”

_______

Back at Jihyo’s room, she was struggling with a lot of internal conflicts.

First, she really didn’t know what to make out of the situation. Yesterday, she brought home a cat. Today, that cat turned into one screeching, panicking mess of an angel. And she was to take responsibility for all this.

Second, she was not sure her heart was supposed to beat this fast for a girl. Nor should her face be feeling this hot. Nor should she be peeking at the girl’s- or, dare she say it, Tzuyu’s- whatever revealed skin underneath the sheets.

Third, what should Jihyo dress her in. This would be so fun, Jihyo giddily thought despite the dire circumstances. At least she had something to do to calm down a bit and rationally think about all this.

Shuffling through the pile of underwear, the leader of TWICE thought about the dramatic reaction. If, IF, that were actually Tzuyu, she would definitely be shocked to see her cat limbs to be that of a human. Cats and dogs also had a relative sense of identity, Jihyo figured; the look at the mirror definitely was the last straw, and her mind must have shut down from the shock. Do cats faint? Jihyo wondered, finally picking out a simple indigo undergarment. It would also explain her lack of response to their questions. She could hear them alright, but there’s no way she could understand. The cat itself, furthermore, was nowhere to be found.

And last, but certainly not least, her bracelet. The object was still resting around the girl’s neck, and it was completely outrageous to imagine someone robbing the cat of its accessory, shooing it away, stripping off her clothes, and climbing to bed.

Bizarre as it might sound, it was STILL more credible than a cat turning into a blasted human!

Jihyo’s mind was in total shambles. What she did manage to make out though, was something the human Tzuyu would look good in: a simple polka-dot sundress that, if Jihyo wore it, reached all the way to her ankles. it would be a perfect fit for Tzuyu and her heaven-sent legs. It would also save a lot of trouble putting multiple things on. Interaction with the unconscious girl on the bed, be it visual or physical, would be bad for her poor heart.

_______

“Momo wanna see! Let Momo go seeeeeeee~” Momo was struggling against Jeongyeon’s grasp. She was not going to be kept out of the loop for so long.

“No Momo. I’m so not letting you go anywhere near a naked sleeping girl.” Replied Jeongyeon sternly, with a slight hint of jealousy that did not go unnoticed.

“Oh, is that so? So why do you undress so freely with me around? Or… is it only okay if it’s you?~” Retorted Momo, with a tone considerably lower and darker than her usual voice.

Taking pride on handling dorky Momo well, Jeongyeon was actually completely defenseless around the coy and seductive Momo.

“Um…” Unable to take anymore, the roommate turned to the others for support.

“Mina, help me out here.”

“Momo-unnie, you shouldn’t go. That girl belongs to Jihyo already.” Mina interfered in her usual melodious tone. To emphasize her point, she did one perfect ballet twirl. “They are alone in there, doing god-knows-what.”

Jeongyeon tilted her head.

“That… was not the kind of help I’m asking for, but thanks anyway.” She said, seeing that Mina’s comment actually succeeded in deflating the flirtatious Momo, allowing the bubbly Momo to come back.

"Jeongyeon, I'm hungry."

_____

It took a while, but Jihyo finally managed to put the dress on the limp figure, with the other girl not waking up. Still, what was done was done; Jihyo’s face was as red as a tomato, and steam can literally be seen coming out of her also crimson ears. Every contact with Tzuyu’s porcelain skin, no matter how small, sent electric shocks into her fingers and butterflies into her stomach. Still, against what’s left of her rational thoughts, she craved more. Jihyo slowly crept closer to Tzuyu’s face, gingerly moving the hair from covering the dainty face.

When she finally did, she found Tzuyu’s large eyes staring intensely back at her. 

Resisting the instinctive urge to jump back, Jihyo boldly kept her hand where it currently was. One wrong move here, and she was most likely going to be injured.

“… Meow?”

Jihyo could have sworn that upon hearing the imitation sound she made, Tzuyu’s originally fearful eyes widened with something akin to recognition. The mute girl then leaned her face into Jihyo’s hand, lightly rubbing back and forth.

"... Good girl."

Thus completed the first step on taking care of a Tzuyu.

_____

Author's Note: Finally done with the intro! This story is originally planned to be a series of one-shots, based on various Jitzu scenes. Most of them involve Jihyo clinging to Tzuyu; I noticed how Tzuyu, during those scenes, hardly ever do anything in response. But when she is the one initiating, it's really pure and adorable. Isn't it just like a cat? Completely ignoring us when we play with them, while vying for attention when we're doing something else. With that in mind, I set up this story as a background; everything will happen as TWICE teaches Tzuyu to become a full human. Thanks for reading thus far, and I do hope you guys will stick with me for the whole journey!


	4. Human 101

“… You know Jihyo-unnie, when we agreed to adopt a cat, I’m pretty sure we were going to, like, adopt a cat.” Dahyun mused.

They were all gathered in the common room, wearing disturbed expressions of various extent. 

Dahyun was disturbed, and a bit relieved; she would not have to put up with furballs running around the house everyday. 

Momo was disturbed, and a bit aroused; coming from a Japanese culture, she could not help but be fascinated by humanoid animals. There should be a pair of cat ears lying around in her room, so she made a mental note to dig it up later.

Nayeon was disturbed, and a bit worried; she would no longer enjoy the monopoly over the milk stash.

Mina was disturbed, and a bit jealous; it was simply not legal to have those legs. 

Chaeyoung was disturbed, and a bit happy; no matter what age Tzuyu might be, she was but a child, and Chaeyoung herself would no longer be picked on for being the youngest of the group. 

Sana was disturbed, and a bit irritated. She would love to be changed by Jihyo one day…

Jeongyeon was disturbed, and a bit hungry. Sandwiches.

Tzuyu was happily eating one of Momo’s jokbal in the middle of the room, blissfully ignorant of the fact that she was being scrutinized by every other person present. It remained unknown as to Momo’s true intention behind giving away her all-time favorite food, but the gesture did raise a lot of questions that needed answering.

Tzuyu was having great difficulty eating the jokbal. Kneeling down and keeping her hands firmly on both sides of the dish, she was tackling it with only her jaws- exactly like how a cat would do.

“… I certainly did NOT expect we’ll have to raise a cat to be a human.” Continued Dahyun. “Not that I have any problem with it though.” She hurriedly added upon seeing Jihyo’s crestfallen face. 

That was also what everyone else was thinking. The notion of teaching someone to be human, a process that would otherwise take place for at least a dozen of years depending on how long one’s childhood was, was something unheard of for someone at Tzuyu’s age. No one was really sure how old the cat-slash-girl was though, but they projected her to be about as old as Chaeyoung.

At any rate, watching a girl with fully functioning hands struggling with only her mouth was both comical and extremely pathetic.

“You know, I’ve never appreciated my hands as much as I am now.” Nayeon said, looking down at her slender fingers. “How do we go about teaching Tzuyu how to use them?”

“As soon as she understands us.” Suggested Chaeyoung.

“You mean, as soon as she knows we are talking to her.” Replied Momo.

“You mean, as soon as she knows her name is Tzuyu?” Sana chimed in.

“You mean, as soon as she learns how to speak?” Asked Jeongyeon.

“You mean, as soon as she can make any sound other than meows?” Mina spoke up.

This was driving Jihyo crazy, so she finally interrupted.

“As soon as she finishes eating.” Other members laughed and highfived among themselves. “You guys do know she can imitate right? If she sees what we do to eat, she can very well do it herself. The same goes to every other activity.”

Looking around only to see either disbelief or pity in others’ eyes, the leader stood up in frustration. “Fine. If you guys don’t believe it, see it for yourselves.” She proceeded to walk up to the eating Tzuyu. As expected from any other conventional cat, Tzuyu stopped eating and stared at the approaching threat warily.

“I hope you’ll not do what I think you will, Jihyo-unnie.” Dahyun whispered fearfully. Because, well, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned- or in this case, like a Tzuyu stripped of her food. They could already visualize the massacre in case their leader actually went ahead with what she was planning to do.

To everyone’s terror, she did. Jihyo confidently picked up the jokbal and held it up to her mouth, ready to take a bite.

“Damn, she did it.”

Sure enough, chaos ensued.

_______

“There, there, good Tzuyu.” Mina, with her innate soothing voice, tried her best to appease a bristling Tzuyu. The cat-turned-girl was still baring her teeth (no fangs included, God bless) towards the cowering Jihyo, who luckily did not sustain much damage. The transformation apparently took away the cat’s most powerful weapon- the claws.

“For your sake Jihyo, I’ll grant you another jokbal. You can eat it using your hands in front of her, and hopefully she try to do the same with her own.” Momo commented wistfully, then something popped up in her head. “You know what, I’ll do it.” No good wasting perfectly good jokbal merely for practice, so she might as well enjoy one while she’s at it.

“Thanks Momo-unnie.” Jihyo replied dejectedly. It kind of hurt to speak, so she kept it short and concise. While not particularly dangerous, Tzuyu’s weakened claws- in other words, normal fingernails- still hurt like hell.

“No prob, leader. Mina, help me out and guide her hand to my lead. Tzuyu seems to be fine with you touching her now.” Momo gave an order, entering her choreography director mode. She gave a look to other idle members of TWICE, who were all looking on with interest. It had surely been a while since they did something so significant together, so everyone was eager to lend a hand. “I think you guys, um, should discuss what to teach her after this, and believe me, there’s a LOT.” Everyone nodded, then immediately launching into discussion.

“So Sana, about your bra…”

Momo pretended she did not hear that.

“Tzuyu-chan, look at me.” Tzuyu didn’t need to be told twice. She was already staring at the second jokbal in Momo’s hand, hers long forgotten.

Perfectly on cue, Mina set her hand directly on top of Tzuyu’s, and guided both to grasp the smaller end of the jokbal on the plate. The Japanese then lightly curled her fingers around the bone until both their hands are grasping the jokbal, with Tzuyu’s between hers and the bone itself. She proceeded lift it up to their face, and finally let go.

Amazingly, Tzuyu still held on to the jokbal.

“Great job Mina!” Jeongyeon, having witnessed the entire scene while holding her breath in tension, cheered enthusiastically. “You’re such a great teacher!”

Momo was already eating the jokbal. “…. Um? Um! Um.” Was the incomprehensible sound from her chewing mouth, but it sure sounded complimentary.

That was how Tzuyu learned the first gesture of intelligence: grasping objects.

______

One hour passed.

“You guys are brilliant, Momo-unnie, Mina.” Jihyo observed, smiling fondly at her Japanese members. Sitting a few steps next to them was Tzuyu, happily holding a cup of milk to her mouth and drinking the content with ease. Not one drop was spilled in the process.

“I’m going to bed.” Momo did not show even a slight hint of appreciation. She stood up and looked down at herself. “Gotta change first, THEN go to bed.”

Never one to show annoyance, Mina managed to flash Jihyo a small gentle smile before doing the same. The busty leader, nevertheless, did not waver at the sudden rudeness.

“Go ahead guys. We’ll clean up everything.” She glanced gleefully at the milky equivalent of the Normandy battle. Empty bottles and cartons of all size and shape laid everywhere, and there were white splashes on every inch of ground that was not covered by furniture. Hell, any furniture within 3 meters of Tzuyu was also covered in milk stains.

“I’m SO not dealing with this Jihyo.” Announced Nayeon, who hated cleaning up. Jeongyeon also agreed, albeit with a bit pity and guilt in her voice.

“Sorry Jihyo.”

“It’s okay, I’m on it.” Jihyo grinned. Her Tzuyu can now eat and drink relatively like a human, so nothing could really bring her down at this point.

“I’ll get the drying cloth Jihyo-unnie.” Said Dahyun, while Chaeyoung was already gathering up milk cartons. Being the youngest in the house, they were already accustomed with the clean-up duty, so they instinctively helped out with no complaint.

“I love you guys.”

Jihyo said, before looking back at Tzuyu. Said girl was done drinking, and was now looking at her with sleepy eyes. She must have forgotten about the ordeal before.

“Hey buddy. Are you full yet?” Jihyo asked, without expecting any answer. She moved over to stroke Tzuyu’s smooth shiny hair. Running her fingers through it, Jihyo could hardly believe it had never been washed or conditioned. “You are such a little troublemaker”.

The catgirl seemed to enjoy the sensation, as she closed her eyes and fully leaned towards Jihyo, resting her head over the older girl’s shoulder. Smiling, Jihyo continued her stroking. “I’m sorry for taking your food. Forgive me, will you?”

Tzuyu purred. For Jihyo, that was more than a satisfactory answer.

_______

I just had to put in the last Jitzu bit at the end. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!


	5. Omake

Omake  
AN: I ran into a minor writer’s block, so here’s a completely irrelevant chapter to clear my head a bit. My take at a “Happy Birthday” for God Jihyo! Happy birthday, leader of TWICE!

______

Park Jihyo  
1:20AM  
Someone named Chou Tzuyu just added me as friend on Facebook. Zero mutual friend.

_____

Park Jihyo, a socially awkward third-year university student, sat alone in her corner of the classroom during breaktime. It was her birthday, and she did not really have anyone to celebrate it with.

Well, not that she cared. She had always enjoyed spending alone time, especially on occasions that people otherwise spent with others.

At any rate, she was quietly minding her own business when she heard a commotion from outside, in the corridor. Strangely, the noise seemed to get closer and closer to her position… then from the corner of her eyes, she caught a flash of brown hair.

And that flash was rushing towards her.

Looking up in astonishment, Jihyo saw death in the form of a tall slender girl with an adorable, yet emotionless face and long flowing brown hair, holding a kitchen knife. Never before had any knife looked that sharp.

Jihyo closed her eyes, awaiting inevitable demise. The sound of the knife dropping to the ground made her open them again though, and before she could take a breath of relief, the stranger caught her in in a crushing hug.

Jihyo blushed madly, not used to sudden contact like this from any gender. Had she been a straight heterosexual lady, she would not have been this flustered and, therefore, would have known how to react appropriately. But alas, Jihyo was someone that had always been dreaming of a Princess Charming… so yes, she was terribly flustered.

The other members of the class... Suffice to say they were not on the same page as Jihyo emotionally. Some of them were even irritated.

Still, Jihyo blushed madly. So madly she never noticed how that statement was a repetition. So madly she broke the fourth wall.

After a mental millennium (equivalent to about three seconds), she realized the awkward situation. She hurriedly dragged the brown-haired girl outside, away from prying eyes. Thankfully the knife was discarded somewhere on her desk.

_____

Now they were in a nearby park, having a staring contest with each other. Still not knowing what to do, Jihyo settled for examining the strange girl's face.

"Wow, she's cute." She mentally exclaimed, taking in all of the stranger's facial features. Rosy pink lips, creamy white skin, and a large pair of onyx eyes that Jihyo was all too happy to drown herself in. Indeed, she had indulged herself so much she found it hard to open her mouth, for fear of ruining the heavenly sight in front of her.

"So er…" Jihyo finally mustered enough courage to ask. "Who are you?"

"Chewy!" said ‘Chewy'.

Jihyo raised an eyebrow. 'That's it?' She waited a while to see whether ‘Chewy’ would continue, but all she received was the large irises staring at her innocently.

"Er…" Another er. "Why did you try to kill me?"

"Chewy!"

"Yes, I know your name already. Just answer my question please?"

"Chewy!"

Jihyo mentally swore. 'Is she Pokemon-brained or something?' Seeing as words were useless, she proceeded to leave. But as soon as her feet touched the ground, she was held back by the sleeves.

Jihyo sighed and turned around. ‘Chewy’ was still giving her that same unwavering stare, while holding the student's shirt.

Now, Jihyo started to feel a bit guilty, leaving this human Pokemon alone.

"What do you want now?"

Chewy suddenly reacted to Jihyo’s words. She shook her head.

"What do you want to do?" Another shake, this time more violently. The usual stare turned a bit angry.

"…. Chewy?"

"Chewy!" As soon as her name escaped Jihyo’s mouth, Chewy yelled excitedly and smiled brightly at Jihyo. She partially melted at that smile, so pretty and adorable it became illegal.

Suddenly Chewy yanked Jihyo's arm towards her and ran at top speed. Being a bookworm with shorter legs that disliked physical labor, Jihyo could barely keep up with the peculiar girl with.

"No, wait…!"

After a while, they arrived at a large lake.

"Wait…. I'm…. exhausted…."

Chewy turned around, her marble round eyes staring at Jihyo.

"Chewy?" she said.

The younger girl then slowed down and pulled at Jihyo's hand. Completely alien to skinship before, Jihyo yanked herself back by reflex. From an outsider's viewpoint, the motion seemed as rude as can be. As tears began to well up in Chewy's eyes, the only coherent thought Jihyo had going through her mind was:

"Fuck me sideways…"

Pokemon Chewy started crying, and Jihyo started panicking. Every people around, from the businessmen to the beggar, from the tourist to the pickpocket, all gave the duo weird looks.

Being her usual clueless self, Jihyo just stood there awkwardly. All of a sudden, a fist came flying at her face.

"What did you do to her, you bitch?" A high-pitched voice went through Jihyo's black starry world. Blinking furiously to regain her eyesight, she realized it was just a passer-by that seemed to have a liking for butting into other people's business.

Chewy seemed to find the ordeal particularly funny, so she doubled over laughing. Now, it had been long established that Jihyo was no social bee; thus, her ending up in this kind of situation was beyond even her most drunken imagination. As it stood, she could do little else but don an expression that seemed no smarter than a Doberman that had just crashed into a glass window.

The girl that just assaulted Jihyo was befuzzled at the laughter. Before she managed to act accordingly, a backpack flew straight onto her face. Jihyo's backpack, to her utter dismay.

But Jihyo was still sluggishly counting teeth on the ground, so who would possibly have thrown it?

It turned out that Chewy, albeit really amused at Jihyo's anguish, was furious that her companion was hit, and she did what a weaker person would do to attack a stronger adversary- ranged attacks, particularly with Jihyo's backpack. People had been gathering more and more around them, making the scene even more hectic. The passerby was now back on her feet, and hell hath no fury like this one.

"Goddammit, what are you two bitches playing at?"

Blinded by anger, she extended her arm for a slap at Chewy's face. The girl in question was too scared to do anything; before the impact came, however, Jihyo had thrown herself at the assailant with a warcry…

… and prostrated herself so low, her head practically touched the feet of the stranger.

"I'm so sorry! My sister has some mental problems, please forgive us!"

The stranger, her anger probably dissipated by Chewy and Jihyo's pathetic looks, merely grumbled a bit before muttering a "It's fine" and walked away. The crowd was also bored and scattered in mere seconds, returning the streets to its usual state.

Picking up her scattered belongings, Jihyo proceeded to follow Chewy on her meaningless wander.

"You shouldn't have begged like that." Jihyo snapped her head up, and gaped openly as she realized it was indeed Chewy that had just spoken.

"You can talk?"

"I only talk when it's necessary."

"Um… so what did you need me for?"

"Chewy!"

Jihyo sighed. She had half expected this. "Never mind."

After the fiasco, some fast food sounded like a great idea, so they arrived at a random fastfood store for lunch. It seemed that the whole following thing had somewhere on the way turned to comfortable company, as Jihyo no longer had the intention of abandoning the peculiar brunette. After eating, they continued their walk around the lake. They also dropped by an arcade, and had some fun at an icecream stand as well. Suffice to say, Jihyo had never dreamed she would one day, in her boring life, go out with someone. And have a street fight at that.

Before she knew it, it was nine in the evening. Spending the whole day out, Jihyo felt happy. It was pretty bizarre if you think about it. A total beauty came and messed up Jihyo's life beyond recognition in the shortest time, bringing with her various emotions that she had only heard of. The girl was suddenly conscious of their intertwining hands, and she gave a slight squeeze. There it is again, the strange feeling of butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

'Skinship is not that bad actually." Jihyo thought idly. She had always been a rational thinker, but now she just wanted to savor the foreign, yet enticing feelings.

Chewy pulled Jihyo out of her reverie, pointing at a sky lantern store with an expectant look. To elaborate, a kind of small hot air balloon with an opening at the bottom, where there is a small fire to bring it up to the sky.

"Do you want to launch one?" Nod.

Chewy's face, at that moment, did not give Jihyo the option to refuse. Buying one for each, she brought the girl to a bridge. Smiling widely, Chewy let go of the lit lantern and watched it float up slowly. Looking at Chewy, Jihyo felt her heart shudder. If this were a dream, she wished she wouldn't have to wake up.

As their lanterns disappeared into the blackness of night, Chewy laid her head on the other girl's shoulder.

"I have to go"

Jihyo was surprised to hear Chewy talk again, but this time it was a news she did not want to hear at all.

"Will I see you again?"

"I don't know"

"But…."

"I cannot give you a neverending dream Jihyo-unnie, but an everlasting memory, I can."

As Jihyo struggled to find a reply, Chewy smiled.

"Happy birthday."

Jihyo suddenly felt extremely dizzy; everything around her seemed to become a mixture of color. She tried futilely to keep her hold on Chewy's hand as the girl faded from her view, but found that she had no strength left. Jihyo stumbled onto the ground and lost consciousness.  
____  
"Ah, it's midnight already?"

Jihyo sat up from her bed. She must have fallen asleep while reading, as her books were lying haphazardly next to her. She attempted to remember what she did before going home this afternoon, but her mind was a fuzzy mess. It hurt to try, so she ignored it and turned on her computer.

Opening Facebook, Jihyo saw that she had one friend request.

"Chou Tzuyu (Chewy)”

Chewy… Why did this name sound so familiar to her? Clicking the name to access the timeline, Jihyo found no info, no image, no status upload. This did not help clearing up her question; Jihyo could not explain why her heart throbbed painfully just looking at the strange name. It felt vague; like a hand holding hers not too tightly, like two faint lights flying side by side in the dark.

Clicking her tongue, Jihyo typed a chat line to her friend, Momo.

"Someone named Chou Tzuyu just added me as friend on Facebook. Zero mutual friend."

____

Again, happy birthday to Park Jihyo!!!!


	6. To Be Human

There were not many things that could wake up a sleeping TWICE girl. Working in this industry, they were forced to catch quick 40-winks between tasks in their incredibly tight schedule; that said, they could sleep through almost anything, from booming music to ear-piercing construction sounds. Also, seeing as they were nine girls sharing a house, sleeping through sudden midnight shrieking and/or stuff breaking was expected.

Still, there existed two things that could pull these girls out of their slumber no matter how deep in slumber they were.

One was, until dethroned by Tzuyu the other day, was Momo’s otherworldly shrill scream.

The other, surprising as it might be, was Nayeon’s ranting.

For the most part, the eldest member of TWICE was a pleasant person to be with- she was friendly, kind, and easily amused. Admittedly the younger ones came to Jihyo when they encountered hardships in their professional and private lives, but when Jihyo was met with problems herself- she came to Nayeon. That alone spoke volumes about how understanding and supportive the older girl could be when she tried.

Keyword being when.

When she did not try, however, Nayeon was highly aggressive. She was hard to rile up, sure, but should someone managed to, she would not mind arguing-or ranting- about it at length. And her voice, highly irritable at that point, went on and on and on, reverberating off and through the walls, either keeping others awake or waking them up. It was the “Nayeon suffrage”- People suffered when Nayeon raged.

_____

“I know you don’t understand me Tzuyu-ah, but I need my morning milk. I know I’m just ranting for no reason, but I can only be myself if I have my milk in the morning! Now I can’t eat this dry cereal, because you drank all the milk Tzuyu-ah! Actually no, you wasted most of it on the floor! I wondered why they even let you practice with milk. Is this because you don’t want to drink plain water? Aren’t you a high-maintenance catgirl? Aish, jinjja…”

It was not that Nayeon was loud, nor did her voice held any noticeable venom. It was just that she kept talking and repeating her opinions to the point that everything she said became painfully annoying.

A few steps from the pacing girl sat poor Tzuyu. She was forced to stay and hold the empty milk carton in her mouth, as a ridiculous means of punishment brought about by Nayeon. Still she did without any resistance, her eyes wide with curiosity.  
But after what seemed like an eternity, Tzuyu visibly drooped. An obedient girl she was, the milk carton remained firmly in its place; nevertheless, she withdrawn her limbs into a knee-hugging position, and lowered her head until her eyes were no longer visible to Nayeon.

“Nayeon-unnie, that’s enough. You’re killing her.” Said an unusually grumpy Mina, who just entered the room still wearing her nightgown. It was unheard of for the resident penguin to ever raise her voice against anyone; not because she was docile, mind you, but boy, that girl could scare with but one sentence. Mina’s sulking, passive-aggressive attitude was extremely hard to deal with, so other members knew to shut up when she told them the first time.

Taking heed of Mina’s words (or rather, taking heed of the fact that it was Mina who said those words), and seeing the pathetic state which the catgirl just put herself into, Nayeon had no choice but to suppress her own irritation. She proceeded to walk out of the room without another word.

Mina took a moment to calm herself down, before trying to comfort Tzuyu with her gentle stroking.

“Tzuyu-ah.” Seeing no response at all, Mina repeated, determined to make the girl realize that was her name, and she was being called. “Tzuyu. Tzuyu.”

Finally, said girl looked up at Mina. Her normally shining eyes were downcast and dull, and her aura just screamed depression.

“Wow… I know you feel bad about Nayeon, but I don’t know you feel this bad.” Mina then wrapped her arms around Tzuyu in a tentative hug, to which Tzuyu did not object. “There there, cheer up baby, cheer up baby, jom deo himeul hae~” She hummed to one of their songs, hoping it would somehow cheer Tzuyu up- like how the lyrics went.

Little did she know, Tzuyu was too unfamiliar with the ways of the world to feel down because of what happened with Nayeon. She was depressed of an entirely different reason.  
In the shadows, Jihyo stifled a sigh.

______

“Jihyo! Jihyo, wake up!” The girl in question woke up to someone’s quiet, yet frantic, hiss.

“Hnnng...? Nayeon-unnie?” Jihyo groggily replied. “Why do I feel I’ve been through this before…?” As soon as she came to her senses, she was hit by déjà vu. "Is this about Tzuyu?"

“Maybe. There is some strange sound in the common room.” Answered Nayeon in a whisper.

Jihyo closed her eyes, focusing on her auditory senses. Indeed, there was a faint sound. Trying harder, she could pinpoint it as a female voice, but the walls were too much of an obstacle for her to make out anything intelligible.

“Nayeon-unnie, Tzuyu can’t speak you know.”

“I know that, but still, who can it be at this time of night? No one among us stays up late.”

“… Good point. Want to come with me?”

“Of course. How can I let you go alone?” Replied Nayeon.

Jihyo nodded appreciatively. The duo proceeded to sneak out of their shared bedroom, taking extra caution not to wake Sana or Mina up. The closer they got, the clearer the voice; Jihyo instinctively knew it was Tzuyu, despite having only heard her meows. However, she was not making any sense; rather, she was merely making random sounds.

“Ea…. Ree… Kraaa… seeeee…”

It might just be her imagination, but she could have sworn Tzuyu’s voice was cracking. That baffled her to no end, so she unconsciously halted her steps, making Nayeon’s forehead crash into her back.

“Ow!”

Tzuyu’s voice came to an abrubt halt.

“Uh-oh.” Was the only thing Jihyo managed to blurt out before she was tackled in the darkness.

“Ouch! Jihyo, get off me! Your foot is on my spleen!”

“It’s not my fault Nayeon-unnie, she attacked me! Now she’s on top of me and, umph, I can’t, hurk, move!” Said Jihyo amidst the untangled mess of limbs. Worse yet, a pair of arms were holding her shoulders to the ground, so she was at complete mercy of the assailant.

Man… don’t tell me my Tzuyu’s gonna eat me. Is it full moon and she turned into a were-cat?

Jihyo suddenly feel water dripping down her face, and this further confirmed her irrational fear.

“Reeee!!! Kaaaggaaa!!!”

As more of Tzuyu’s nonsense filled her ears, Jihyo could feel the catgirl’s hot breath on her face.

Awww man, her saliva’s everywhere, I’m so gonna be dinner…

At that moment, one random vehicle approached up the road, its headlight briefly illuminating the formerly dark corridor and bathing Tzuyu’s face in pale white light.

In that split second, Jihyo took a good look at her attacker; Tzuyu was crying. Her red teary eyes were a storm of emotions: confusion, sadness, and most of all- frustration. She had had enough, going through astronomical changes, struggling with a newfound boredom and exasperation of understanding nothing. Tzuyu was fine being ignorant before as a cat, so she could not possibly understand why this was so excruciating, being out of the loop. She could not even understand her feelings, her weird voice, the frustrated tears on her face.

In that split second, Jihyo understood. So she hugged Tzuyu and cried.

______

“Say, Jihyo.”

Said girl looked up from her work. She had been pouring over her books these days, learning the best way how to teach Tzuyu to become a proper, full-fledged human.

The largest caveat to this ongoing quest is the complete lack of precedent; without witnessing it themselves, no one in TWICE could ever believe there was something as fanfictional as a cat turning into a human overnight. And even if someone might have seen similar situations on niche anime (aka Mina, the group’s closet otaku), the catgirl character always had the intelligence of a human- or at least relatively so. In certain instances where Mina was enthusiastic enough to make the entire group to watch a favorite show of hers, it was quite a fun experience; the catgirls, whatever their names were, were really heart-melting with their childlike behavior and speech patterns. Not to mention several cat-like gestures that were difficult to enunciate, but were extremely cute nonetheless. 

But in Tzuyu’s case… those were more or less the only things she could do. And while it did more than enough to heighten the cute level all the way beyond infinity, it did less than little to help her become accepted as a human. 

“What are you doing there?” Asked Sana, who just pulled Jihyo out of her thoughts.

“I’m looking into what a cat can and can’t do. Like, we know they are intelligent, right? So I’m assuming they have some sense of identity. We all saw how she freaked out when she looked at the mirror.” Sana nodded slowly, still feeling unsettled about that event in particular- and everything in general.

“Also, she is great at imitating. I was wondering if it’s something all cats can do, or it’s the human instinct at play.” It had come as quite a surprise, but Tzuyu took no time learning how to walk on two legs in lieu of all fours. The only time when she did was out of their bedroom into the common room, and she managed only a few meters before stopping in irritation, look at the other girls (who walked behind her for fear of another outburst), then stood up fully. The first few steps were awkward as she struggled to stay upright, her ankles wobbling like those of someone who just put on ice skating shoes for the first time. However, as soon as she bent her knees, it seemed as if something clicked inside Tzuyu’s head, and she visibly perked up. She took her subsequent steps with relative ease, without forgetting to turn back to look at the stunned group with what can only be described as blank pride and joy, if that even made sense. 

Of course, she had yet to learn how to display emotions, so smiling was quite out of the question. Jihyo just assumed, instinctively, that the sparkle behind Tzuyu’s wide eyes was a newfound desire for praise and acknowledgement.  
The silence, alas, only lasted for a split second. 

“OH MY GOD!” Screamed Dahyun.

“WHO IS THIS?” Screamed Jeongyeon.

“KAJNFKSFUAHFIAJBCK” was a relative transcription of what Momo managed to say.

That was when Tzuyu learned how to run.

______

“So what were you trying to tell me?” Jihyo inquired her Japanese friend. Normally their conversation involved a lot of hugging and cuddling, so seeing Sana sitting so withdrawn made her a bit nervous.

“I just think, Tzuyu seems really down these days.” Replied Sana worriedly.

“She does?” Jihyo looked around searching for the girl in question. Surprisingly, she was nowhere to be found. “Where is she though, Sana?”

“I think she’s in the maknae’s room. Dahyun and Chaeyoung are really, like, REALLY excited to experienment with makeup on our poor Tzuyu.” Sana laughed lightly. “Oh, she was so clueless. I still don’t understand why she can sit still throughout all that.”  
This made Jihyo smile too. “Maybe she’s scared stiff?” The duo shared a laugh. In all honesty, they could only guess Tzuyu’s emotions via the widening of her eyes; the rest of the kitty girl’s face, for lack of better words, were pretty much abandoned. The mouth was occasionally used for eating, but aside from that, it was perpetually kept in some sort of confused half-frown.

The pleasant moment was fleeting though, and Jihyo let out a sigh.

“Sana, I’m worried.” Sensing her leader’s distress, Sana took no time reaching out and enveloping Jihyo in a conforting shoulder hug.

“About everything?” 

“About everything.” Jihyo smiled a bit at the new source of warmth, but the frown did not leave her face. “We’re so lucky this is our week off. Starting next Monday, it’s back to the studios for us, and Tzuyu…” She trailed off, not even knowing what to comment.  
“We’ll have to confront our producer.” The thought alone sent shivers down both of their spines. 

Park Jin-young, or JYP, their chief producer and the president of JYP Entertainment was not a scary man. Quite the opposite, even. Underneath his strict façade, he was highly caring and attentive of the girls’ needs. In certain cases, he even agreed to starring in their music videos as a comical character, sacrificing his own image to satisfy their antics. Suffice to say, he cared more of their reputation than his own. Still, it meant he would probably be less than open to compromising situations that might make public news, one of which being an unknown girl among TWICE in their private establishment.

For any normal girl, this could already be bad. And Tzuyu was as far from a normal girl as could be.

“Sana, if this goes out, we’ll be damned. And Tzuyu will be in danger. A lot of danger.” Jihyo stressed the last part, looking at the Japanese girl with fearful eyes. The problem with civilian identification was troublesome enough, and if the clueless catgirl got thrown out, she would not last a second. No, Tzuyu had to stay, by any means possible.

Jihyo would make sure to protect her at all cost.

_____

Over in the maknae’s room, something not predicted was taking place.

What transpired that day would be something to talk about in several years to come.

“Hello ONCEs! This is Dahyun and Chaeyoung.”

“Today’s VLIVE will be our hands, the maknae line!”

“And we can’t wait to tell you about the newest addition to TWICE, Tzuyu! Tzuyu, say hi!”

“… Meow.”

_____

AN: This chapter really took a while. But well, seems like the cat’s out of the bag, no pun intended.


	7. Acceptance

If there were one major contributor to Park Jin-young’s success, it would be his strategic thinking. Having experienced firsthand the ups and downs of Korean music industry, the founder of JYP gradually gained a good grasp of what people liked and what they did not. He regarded both his wins and losses as invaluable insight, meticulously taking note of each and every action and what consequences it can bring about, any problem, may it be internal or external, was scrutinized and analyzed, soly for the purpose of drawing the grand picture of the entertainment market. He had consistently led his enterprise to prosperity; any incontingencies that inevitably transpired were settled with little to no damage.

That said, sitting in the middle of TWICE’s common room, facing the girls huddling together in fear of punishment, he had absolutely, unequivocally no fucking idea how to deal with this absurd issue.

Especially when the issue itself was tugging at his pants’ left leg, as if fascinated by something. Oh yeah, he was wearing his favorite pants today, with frilly ends at the ankle.

“Tzuyu! Get back here!” Nayeon fearfully hissed. Seeing her words did not even make the strange girl budge an inch, the eldest of TWICE was forced to stand up and drag her by the waist back to where the others were sitting. She received a bite in the process.

“Ouch! Bad Tzuyu! No biting!” Hiss. Frustrated, Nayeon hit Tzuyu with a pillow.

“Greowww…mphfphfph.” Tzuyu’s warcry was quickly muffled by another pillow courtesy of Jeongyeon. As if on cue, Mina- with miraculous flexibility- had managed to keep Tzuyu’s hands firmly in her own to prevent any further outburst.

“Hush now Tzuyu-chan, PD-nim is looking.” Mina’s soothing voice saved the day again; over the last few days, Tzuyu seemed to have subconsciously associated anything Mina said with a sign to be nice and shut the hell up.

Then, again came silence. Dahyun and Chaeyoung, the two reasons why the entire JYP building was in utter chaos so late into the night and Park Jin-young himself had to rush to TWICE dormitory in less than fifteen minutes, did not even dare look up at the stern producer’s face. They had made a careless blunder, and it was time to pay the price.

“So…” Finally, the man spoke up. “Who is this girl?” He asked, motioning to Tzuyu, whose eyes never left the frills on his pants.

“PD-nim… I can explain.” Finally Jihyo spoke up. She was the leader of TWICE, and no matter what happened, she was ready to take the brunt of the damage for her maknaes as always. This time around, she was even more motivated, since what she did henceforth would decide Tzuyu’s fate. She was, however, stopped as JYP raised his hand.

“Wait Jihyo, I want an answer from her first.”

One second passed as the girls exchanged helpless looks, before Sana saw fit to chime in.

“That’s the problem PD-nim… She cannot speak.”

“Nor can she understand you right now.” Momo elaborated. JYP’s expression turned even more confused, if that were even possible.

Still, he was a patient man. Taking careful account of the girls’ state, he decided against bursting out in anger.

“Alright then, Jihyo, you’re up. Don’t even try leaving out any info.” He did not mean for that to come out so intimidating, but Jihyo had been under his wing long enough to know that was not a threat. 

Taking a deep breath, Jihyo started her explanation.

_______

“Okay if that story had come from anyone else, I would have enjoyed a good laugh and had that person sacked right away for dishonesty. But you Jihyo-ah…” JYP paused to take a good long look at the out-of-breath girl. “I have known you for ten years, and you’ve never lied even once.”

JYP sighed and continued.

“But now, I’m forced to believe that you brought home a stray cat, and that cat somehow turned into Tzuyu here.” Said girl was trying to catch a colorful butterfly hairpin in Sana’s hand. Sana was having a hard time making it a challenge for Tzuyu, seeing as the other girl’s lithe limbs were longer than hers and she was as agile as, well, a cat. At least she was not causing any ruckus.

“Aside from the fact that it’s totally ridiculous, I otherwise have no argument against it for now.” JYP said. “Look at her! She’s as catlike as they come. No comments on the Vlive video said she was fake or acting. If this were a prank, then she very damn well has fooled the entire planet.”

Chaeyoung and Dahyun’s stunt had gone viral. The views on that live session alone was at least seventeen times their average number; even now, the recorded video- of an incredibly pretty girl rolling around on the floor, sniffing and licking anything she was offered, then freaking out when one offer was chili sauce- was being spread all over the world.

“Well… the way I see it, if we play our cards right this time, it will be a huge boost to your popularity.” This sentence alone dissolved the apprehensive air in the dormitory, and every member of TWICE had a huge grin on their faces. Even Dahyun and Chaeyoung, who finally looked up with hopeful eyes. 

“Yes, I mean it. I’ll allow Tzuyu to become the newest TWICE member. If, IF, you get her to behave in the next comeback show. And by behave, I don’t mean like a basic human, but like a TWICE-worthy singer and dancer. If you guys somehow pull it off, I’ll deal with the rest.”

“… Really, PD-nim? With her identification, her nationality, fans reaction, everything?” Jihyo asked with no little uncertainty in her voice.

“Yes. I am Park Jin-young.” JYP replied coyly, with an amused glint in his squinted eyes.

The dorm exploded with cheers.

______

“Jihyo-unnieeeeeeeee!” Cried Dahyun. “I love you so much!!!” The young rapper glomped her leader with all her strength, followed by Chaeyoung who more or less did the same, only with more enthusiasm.

“Jihyo-unnieeeee!!! You’re a goddess, we don’t deserve you!” The younger rapper dramatically fake sobbed.

“I did what I had to guys, can’t let my cute maknaes take the blame for anything.” Replied Jihyo amidst all the crying, stroking Dahyun’s hair. That elicited an ‘Awwww’ from the watching Japanese line.

“That was magnificently done Jihyo. I know voting you as leader is always the right choice.” Jeongyeon commented proudly. On her lap Tzuyu peacefully slept, bored of the lengthy talk that ironically dictated her future. She would never admit it, being known for her major distaste against physical intimacy, but having someone sleep on her lap once in a while like this would be nice. Jeongyeon thought fondly, her fingers caressing Tzuyu’s silky hair- idly and lightly, lest she woke the sleeping beauty up.

“Ooooh, Jeong’s acting affectionately. This is not something we see everyday.” Sana mused. Jeongyeon immediately withdrew her hand with a blush.

“Now that we have PD-nim’s approval, it’s time to get to work guys.” Hurriedly announced the short-haired girl, trying to get the others’ attention off her out-of-character moment. She succeeded. The sounds of cheering and crying promptly subsided, as everyone’s expressions turned serious and attentive.

“Now that Tzuyu must be present in our next comeback show, we need to get her as presentable as possible in two weeks. Momo!”

“Yes?” Momo looked up when she heard her name.

“You and Sana take her to the dance studio tomorrow. We know Tzuyu’s great at imitating, all we have to do is get her familiarized with the rhythm. Among us, you know the best how to do it.” Momo puffed out her chest in pride.  
“Leave the dancing to Momoring!” Momo enthusiastically yelled. “Wait, that rhymes, hurray~”

“Stretch her good Momo.” Jeongyeon grinned.

“Roger!”

“Nayeon-unnie, Chaeyoung, Dahyun, you’re on behavior duty. I have no idea how, but she has to at least understand things. Standing in front of a crowd the first time is fucking scary, we all know that. Get her ready. If she bites someone at the concert, it’s our heads.” 

Nayeon shrugged indifferently. “Well, someone’s gotta teach her not to just drink anyone’s milk.” She still held a bit of a grudge for her Tzuyu-induced lack of morning milk.

“Mina, you’re the one with the most patience among us.” Mina blushed at the compliment. “You’re in charge of explaining logic. If Tzuyu has any questions about stuff like ‘why does the ball fall down and not float’ or ‘why pigs fly and cats don’t’, it’s your job.”

“Understood, Jeongyeon.” Replied Mina. “Wait, pigs don’t…”

“Jihyo, you’re the closest to Tzuyu, so your job is the hardest.” Jeongyeon reached for Jihyo’s hand. “Teach her Korean. Get her to understand what we say at least, and at least some short answer. You’ve been doing research all this time, I know you can do it.” She squeezed her leader’s hand for emphasis.

“Say, Jeongyeon-unnie.”

“You have a question, Lieutenant Dahyun?”

“What do you do?”

“Me? I’m supervising the entire project. I’m working my hardest over here, I’ll have you know.” Jeongyeon proudly replied, putting on a smug face.

Silence. Then came a barrage of protests.

“… You’re not not doing anything!”

_____

Later that night, Jihyo was too excited to come back to sleep. So she opted to teach Tzuyu the first thing she could think of: Names.

They were now sitting cross-legged in front of one another on Jihyo’s bed, with only her soft orange nightlight illuminating both their faces. Tzuyu was smiling unconsciously, revealing her adorable dimples Jihyo could never get tired staring at Tzuyu’s face, especially her starry eyes; they were so bright, so innocent, so… beautiful. Everytime they were alone together, Jihyo’s heart started to somersault, and blood started to rush to her head. Still she kept a cool façade, and focused on the task at hand.

“Tzuyu. Tzuyu.” With each repetition, Jihyo poked the other girl on the chest, making sure her gaze was following the finger. Then, she methodically reached for Tzuyu’s hand and curled up four fingers, leaving the index the only one extended. Holding that hand, she said once more.

“Tzuyu.” This time, Jihyo turned Tzuyu’s hand so that it was pointing against herself. “Tzuyu.” Poke. Poke.

Now, time to test. She let go of the hand she was holding. Maintaining eye contect with the catgirl, Jihyo silently pointed at her.

“…Chu..u… Chuuyu.”

It was the most wonderful sound Jihyo had ever heard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for over-simplifying the complicated process of validating Tzuyu's existence in society. I know it should be really arduous, and the reaction of JYP Entertainment should also be much much harsher. Still I don't want to make things so realistic, it would just make the story less focused on the fluffy part- which is the reason why I started out in the first place. So yeah, sorry again guys, and please enjoy the chapter!


	8. Warmth

A week passed by, much faster than Jihyo would have liked.

Still…

“Tzuyu, get some orange juice please.”

“Yes, Sana-unnie.” Replied Tzuyu enthusiastically, before bolting into the kitchen.

“You know…” Jihyo mused, her eyes never leaving the TV screen. A few members were gathered in the common room, watching a really intense drama series. “I’m quite glad that Tzuyu’s improving a lot, but I just can’t shake the feeling that something is off.”

“Sana-unnie want ice-cream? Mina-unnie? Chaeyoung?” Asked Tzuyu, who just came back from the kitchen with a carton of juice in hand.

“No Tzuyu-chan, thanks. Do you want ice-cream?” Nod. “Get some for you, then come here with us to watch this drama.”

“Well, simple dialogues, check, facial expressions, check. So lucky that smiling and laughing are something we learn by instinct. Maybe it’s her grammar…? No, that can’t be right. She’s still just putting words together, but soon she will manage fine.” Jihyo still wondered out loud. There was something wrong, but she could not put a finger on it quite yet.

She decided to go by elimination process. “Say, Sana? How are things going along in the dance studio?”

Jihyo half-expected a delighted nod from the bubbly Japanese, but she actually shook her head for once. “Not that good, Jihyo-ah. Tzuyu-chan catches up really well, she never gets tired, and she’s really flexible too. But…” Sana was interrupted by Momo, who just burst open the door noisily like she normally did.

“I’m hungry!”

Sana shot Jihyo an apologetic look. “Let’s talk later.” With that, she wanted to walk away, yet she was held back by the shoulder.

“Hold it right there, I just realized what seemed wrong.” Jihyo said, a strange glint present in her eyes. “Why are you using Tzuyu as your errand runner!!” She shouted as she tackled the laughing Japanese, adding even more chaos to the noisy household.

_____

“Okay Tzuyu-ah, let’s learn some new words.” Tzuyu grinned and nodded quickly. Throughout the week she had shown the same zealousness whenever it was time for language lessons. It was hard for her to explain what word she wanted to learn due to the limited existing vocabulary, so she hung on to everything Jihyo taught, never once failing to memorize it perfectly. ‘Learning very fun, make Tzuyu feel happy’, she had said in her minimally simplified language, melting a few hearts in the process.

Jihyo smiled, stroking Tzuyu’s hair affectionately. The girl’s contagious enthusiasm somehow always managed to bring a smile to her face.

“Good girl.” Recognizing the usual praise, Tzuyu made a happy squeaking sound and attempted to lick Jihyo’s outstretched hand. “No! No licking Tzuyu. Bad girl.” Pout.

“Now, look here. What do you see?” Jihyo pointed at the objects she had arranged on the table in a specific order.

“On table are ice cream… a cup of water… two cup of water… three cup of water… and…” Tzuyu trailed off, not yet knowing the word for the kettle.

“This Tzuyu-ah, is a kettle. A kettle.” Tzuyu repeated the word, and Jihyo nodded in satisfaction. “Good job!” The catgirl beamed.

“Give me your hand Tzuyu.” Said girl held out her hand without having to be told twice. Body parts were the first thing to be covered in Jihyo’s makeshift syllabus. “Now I’ll put your finger in the ice cream.”

“But Mina-unnie say no touch food.”

“This is for the lesson, so it’s okay.” Jihyo replied patiently. She was glad that it was not only language that Tzuyu remembered, but lessons from other members too. “Here, just put your finger in.” Tzuyu obeyed. She immediately winced, not liking the sudden freezing sensation.

“Cold. Ice cream is cold.” Again, Tzuyu repeated the word accurately, and Jihyo allowed her to withdraw the finger.

“How about this stove? Just touch the outside.” Tzuyu did what she was told. She immediately gasped, pulling back quickly and jumping away from the kettle. It was just used, so there was boiling water inside.

The girl stared at her finger for a bit, before glancing up at Jihyo with a pained look.

“Jihyo-unnie hurt Tzuyu.” She said it in such a sad tone that Jihyo swore her heart just died a bit. She took no time scooting closer to wrap the oh-so-adorable girl in her arms.

“I’m sorry dear, I’m really sorry I hurt you. But you must learn the word. You should not touch hot water, because hot water will hurt you.”

Not looking away from her finger, Tzuyu mumbled.

“Hot water hurt. Not Jihyo-unnie. Jihyo-unnie not want hurt Tzuyu.”

“That’s right. Because I love you.” Jihyo whispered happily, planting a loving kiss on Tzuyu’s head. Not yet accustomed to expressing affection verbally, Tzuyu wordlessly rubbed her head against Jihyo’s cheek with half-lidded eyes. The two sat like that for a while, enjoying each other’s company, until Jihyo decided it was time to continue the lesson.

“Next Tzuyu, this cup of water.” Tzuyu looked at her with an unreadable expression, but complied anyway. She gingerly dipped another finger into the cup right beside the icecream tub, and Jihyo could tell she was afraid of feeling the same things with the icecream and the stove again. The frown on her face dissolved as soon as she made contact, and she said.

“Water not cold, but not hot.”

“That’s right Tzuyu, water is cool. We like drinking cool water. Coooool.” Jihyo dragged out the vowel so that Tzuyu could see her mouth shape clearly.

“Cool.”

“That’s great Tzuyu-ah, you’re just soaking up words like a sponge.” As expected, Tzuyu just sat there motionlessly, not savvy the expression's meaning. “Last one. We need to be fast, because the others are leaving for dance practice soon.” Nod.

“Do the same for this cup too.” Tzuyu did, and her eyebrows furrowed. It did not necessarily feel bad, yet it was getting more complex to describe.

“Not hot, not cold… but not cool.”

“Correct Tzuyu, this is the best word. It’s warm. Warm. It feels the best. It doesn’t hurt you, and it makes you feel safe. Now, repeat after me. Warm.”

“... Warm.” Tzuyu repeated pensively. She seemed deep in thought for some reasons. Then, as if realizing something, her mouth made an ‘o’ and quickly ran off. Midway though, she stopped and looked back at Jihyo with an appreciative stare.

“Thank you Jihyo-unnie. I love you.”

With that she disappeared from sight. After the momentary shock, Jihyo recomposed herself. Tzuyu had yet to know what the sentence meant anyway. Now on her own, Jihyo cleaned up the leftover stuff, all the while humming with an unknown joy.

Meanwhile, Tzuyu was still following her train of thoughts as she headed to where her other unnies were.

_____

“Now Sana, what was that you wanted to speak to me earlier?”

That evening found the members of TWICE in their respective bedrooms. Sans Mina, who remained in the living room to give Tzuyu supplementary lessons; according to her, the drama they watched earlier that day contained some great material that could help Tzuyu gain more insight about when people did this or that. This made Jihyo really glad, as the sudden responsibility forced Mina to abandon her nightly gaming sessions, yet she had no qualms about it and even willingly spent more than enough time tutoring the girl.

With Nayeon soundly asleep, Jihyo finally found her opportunity to ask about the hindrance in Tzuyu’s dancing practice.

“What… Oh, you meant that. Actually today went a bit better, I don’t know why, but it did.” Sana reported excitedly. “Tzuyu-chan also gave me a hug today. I was so happy! You guys hardly ever do that anymore.” She pouted playfully. Laughing, Jihyo decided to entertain the touchy-feely Japanese by hugging her waist, making her squeal in delight.

“I’m so glad to hear that Sana. Still, what had been the problem before?” Sana’s smile dimmed a little.

“It was Momo. She seems really out of it in the studio lately. When we have problems, she always helps us by showing us how the move is done right? But when Tzuyu-chan got something wrong, like she missed a step or cannot follow the rhythm, Momo just stayed silent and repeated the song, and I had to assist her step-by-step.”

Jihyo was extremely puzzled. In terms of choreography, everyone appreciated Momo- not only because she was the best dancer in the group, but also because she was always ready to help them get the moves correctly, no matter how long it took for them to understand.

“I don’t want to say this, and I hope it’s just me overthinking or Momo has something on her mind that distracts her, but…” Sana trailed off, hesitant to continue. Before long she heaved a sigh and finished the sentence.

“… it feels like she doesn’t want Tzuyu-chan to get better.”

_____

Being a cat lover, Jihyo knew well how much they sleep everyday compared to humans. That was why, when she groggily entered the kitchen next morning and found Tzuyu already having breakfast, she was surprised.

“Tzuyu-ah? Why are you up so early?” Tzuyu stopped eating and looked at the newcomer.

“Jihyo-unnie. Tzuyu want do more dancing.” She said. What Sana said last night came back to Jihyo in full force. It had haunted the leader even in her sleep, so Tzuyu’s answer yanked her from the sleepiness and brought her senses to full function. So she pulled a chair next to Tzuyu, mentally preparing a way to approach the problem.

“Tzuyu, what do you think about dancing practice with Momo and Sana?”

“Tzuyu not dance good. Make many mistakes, make Momo-unnie and Sana-unnie tired.” She responded sadly. This was reminiscent to Jihyo’s first days of training, so she understood perfectly the guilty feeling when one was liable to hold the team back. She patted Tzuyu’s shoulder sympathetically.

She did not expect the girl to reach over and embrace her.

“Wow Tzuyu-ah…” She made an half-hearted attempt to pull away, but thought better of it when the girl wouldn’t budge. So she flung her free arm across Tzuyu’s back, creating a really awkward-looking mutual hug. Yet both of them felt really comfortable.

“Hug is warm. Jihyo-unnie make Tzuyu warm and safe. Sana-unnie too, she like when Tzuyu hug her. She hug Tzuyu back. She teach Tzuyu to dance good. But Momo-unnie not want Tzuyu hug her. She not speak to Tzuyu. Momo-unnie… cold.”

_Cold. Distant. Unsympathetic. Unaffectionate._

It was the first time Tzuyu employed the extended meaning of a word successfully, yet it was not a happy occasion.


	9. Water from Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to apologize for any inconsistencies of the characters here. You see, when this story started I hadn't known Twice for that long- maybe two weeks, tops. I was still struggling to remember everyone's names, let alone plan out all the situations to fit their characters.
> 
> So yeah... sorry again.

Mina was a ballerina. Or, as the pun-loving Momo dubbed, Balle-mina. It was a lady-ish sport, fitting for a lady.

 Being born to a wealthy family in Japan, she was brought up to be a woman of grace and etiquettes. This entailed countless lessons and lectures on how to conduct herself in various situations, for various kinds of people she might encounter in later life. Thankfully, this upbringing went well in line with Mina’s quiet agreeable personality, so she saw it not as an annoyance but rather as helpful advice, taking everything to heart- not only the outward behavior aspect, but also the patient mindset much needed for interpersonal relations. When she left her home for Korea, Mina felt powerful. She felt like she was properly educated in both manners and talents, and that she was ready for any hardship ahead.

It couldn’t have been further from the truth. Well, at least not the manners part.

Only when she attempted to blend in with the rest of Twice did she realize how much of a far cry her education was to the real world. People paid no mind to diplomacy and decorum when things started to heat up, and concession- what Mina thought to be her strength- became a sign of weakness. She gradually came to realize critical things about the world, and herself as well: All her teachers were, after all, her parents’ employee; they were always walking on thin ice around her, showering her with praises even though it was undeserving at times. Over time it had built her level of self-assurance one too many times, and as a result, she was hopelessly under-prepared.

That said, the chance meeting with Tzuyu was a blessing in disguise for Mina. With the clueless catgirl, she could freely practice to harness her patience and endurance, so as to avoid falling into another of her passive-aggressive streaks she had become known for.

“Mina-unnie, why food here cold?” Asked Tzuyu, pointing at the fridge.

“Mina-unnie, why Tzuyu see another Tzuyu?” Asked Tzuyu, pointing at the mirror.

“Mina-unnie, why water fall from the sky?” Asked Tzuyu, pointing at the rain.

Explaining difficult things to Tzuyu, and many others, had been tiring and frustrating, still she persevered. It was a chance of a lifetime in which what she did would bear no consequences, so she vowed not to succumb to her inner dark self.

Before long, Mina realized the power of proactivity. Afraid of being a bother, she avoided imposing on others unless it was absolutely necessary. But now, she actively looked out for things the catgirl might have questions about, and preemptively provide answers- ELI5 style, something she’d become proficient at. With this method Mina had, by some miracle, managed to give satisfactory explanations to all queries so far with little trouble.

Until last night, when an unusually dejected Tzuyu asked a question that threw Mina completely off guard. Almost choking on the water she was drinking, Mina took a moment to cough and wheeze before deciding that she must have misheard.

“Sorry Tzuyu, what did you say?”

“Tzuyu not understand. Why Momo-unnie hate Tzuyu?”

Now that she knew she wasn’t mistaken, Mina could not believe her ears. Momo _hated_ Tzuyu? It was such a ridiculous notion that Mina could not even think of, let alone get behind. She had her doubts, unless Momo said it explicitly that she hated the catgirl, there was every chance that Tzuyu had a misunderstanding. Either way, Mina had to be sure.

“Did Momo _say_ she hates you, Tzuyu-ah?”

“No.” A wave of relief washed over Mina. Tzuyu must have misunderstood things after all.

“Then it’s fine. She doesn’t hate you Tzuyu-ah. She likes you a lot, we all do.” Mina wrapped her arms around the younger girl’s shoulders affectionately.

“Tzuyu believe Mina-unnie, Mina-unnie never wrong.” As if to reinforce her words, Tzuyu buried her face in the crook of Mina’s neck, lovingly rubbing the place with her nose.

The smile Mina had on her face then, she carried all the way to sleep.

Her joy was short-lived, however, as she was held back by the hand by a grim-faced Jihyo the next morning.

“Mina, there’s something we need to do. It’s about Momo.”

_____

“Why are you guys here? Where is Tzuyu?”

“She is out with Jeongyeon and Nayeon today. They volunteered to teach her about flavors.”

“… You let them go out? For real?” Momo raised an eyebrow. Even she saw the problems behind this.

“They should be fine. Mina’s already told Tzuyu to listen to what they say, and the icecream shop is barely a dozen steps away. They should be fine.” Jihyo repeated, as if to reassure herself than Momo. In all honesty, she wasn’t so calm about this herself, and she would like nothing more than to be there with the guys just to make sure nothing went wrong. Still, she reminded herself, that this was more important.

“They will be okay. I mean, Tzuyu already knew what it’s like outside as a cat. As long as she’s not alone there will be no problem.” Mina saw fit to add, to reassure both Momo and her leader.

“Alright then…” Momo decided not to dwell on the topic. “Let’s just get to practice, then we can get something to eat!” She yelled excitedly, not noticing the slight frown around Jihyo’s eyes.

If anything, there was nothing unusual about Momo- airheaded, passionate about dancing, and equally zealous about eating.

“Momo-unnie, wait just a little bit. There’s, um, something we need to talk about.” Momo tilted her head in confusion.

“Eh?”

Despite the storm of thoughts raging inside Jihyo and Mina’s heads, Momo seemed blissfully ignorant of her friends’ predicament. This made it all the more harder for Jihyo to approach the issue at hand. Mina was out of the question, it was still beyond her to start a confrontation; it had already taken much out of her to be there, questioning her beloved friend.

They stood there, exchanging helpless and confused looks, until Sana- who was quietly watching from her corner of the dance room- could no longer take it.

“Yah!” She yelled, exasperated. “How much longer is this going to drag on? Momo-unnie, they wanted to ask you why you weren’t helping with Tzuyu’s dancing.”

Momo’s eyes widened, then immediately narrowed. She turned her wary gaze to Sana, who returned it defiantly.

“Don’t even try to deny it Momoring, you know how bad I am at dancing compared to you, and still I have to do most of the teaching these few days. You wouldn’t do it even if it’s no trouble for you, and I don’t understand why.”

At this point, Momo’s apprehensive look had turned into a glare.

“What about it then, am I in trouble or something?” She turned to look at each of the members present, finally landing on Jihyo with accusation in her intense eyes.

“If you’re tired, please tell us about it Momo-unnie, so we can teach her in your stead. Right now it just seems like you don’t want Tzuyu to be better or something.” Jihyo repeated what Sana told her the other night. She meant to say it as a half-joke, but failed miserably due to incorrect tone. As it stood, the statement came out more accusative than funny.

“Yes I don’t want to!” Jihyo took a startled step back at Momo’s sudden outburst. “I thought it would be funny at the beginning, but aren’t you guys seeing anything wrong with this?”

Sana did not hide her confusion. “What do you mean, Momo?”

“At this rate Tzuyu will actually become a member of Twice!” Momo replied frustratedly. Then, not seeing the expected ‘oh no’, but the rather expressive ‘yeah, well we know that much, isn’t that what we’re trying to do’ look, she asked in disbelief. “Come on, you guys don’t really want that, do you?”

“Um…” Jihyo was struggling to grasp the situation. Wasn’t that what they set out to do from the start? Glancing desperately at Mina, she was greeted with more or less the same deer-in-the-headlight look, so she had no choice but to divert her gaze back to Momo helplessly.

“Are you guys SERIOUS!? I thought it was a joke, to make it clear that Dahyun and Chaeyoung were not in any trouble! But we are actually going to let a new girl into Twice?”

“Momo-unnie, Tzuyu is not just…” Jihyo’s explanation was interrupted.

“Look, I don’t care if Tzuyu is an angel fallen from the sky or something. I’m not okay with having a new member.”

“B-but she worked so hard for this! Don’t you see how far she’s gotten in the last week?” Jihyo exclaimed, and immediately regretted it; Momo’s eyes widened to an unusual degree, and her face convoluted into a cruel smile.

“Are you seriously bringing that up, Jihyo? Do you know how hard, _for how many years,_ I worked to be a member of Twice? _And still I almost got eliminated!?”_ Momo all but screamed the last sentence. It contained all the pent-up insecurity and self-hatred, having stayed dormant all this time, only to be awaken with but one slight trigger.

A moment passed as all other members of Twice stared in utter shock. The brief respite, however, did not seem to calm Momo down.

“I’m here because they took pity on me. I have always known that, I do…” Momo continued, this time her voice was barely above a whisper. “If they let Tzuyu in that easily… well, it goes to show how worthless I am.”

“… No, no, please Momo-unnie…” Sensing danger, Jihyo edged closer, holding out her arms.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” Batting Jihyo’s hands aside, Momo shouted, and stomped her way out of the studio.

Silence befell the room.

A few seconds later, Jihyo snapped out of her shocked state, then dragged both stunned Japanese with her outside. They needed to follow Momo home as soon as possible.

_____

Meanwhile, Nayeon and Jeongyeon was having a rather peaceful time, browsing through the icecream store, occasionally dropping Tzuyu a pop-quiz kind of question on the colors, as per Jihyo’s instruction. They also managed to teach many words for different flavors using spices, and Tzuyu learned them all with little trouble. As a reward, they bought virtually all kinds of icecream available, one scoop each, and watched on as the catgirl licked a bit of each, wincing at the cold, but eventually finishing the feast on her own.

“Nayeon-unnie?”

“Yeah?”

“Tzuyu want…” Struggling to describe the action, Tzuyu made a vague gesture of lifting something up, then moving her arms sideways. “Icecream. Home.”

“Oh, you want to _bring_ the icecream home.” Ever perceptive, Jeongyeon figured out the meaning right away. Tzuyu beamed at the new word learnt. “Yes, of course we can.”

“Tzuyu want bring icecream home for unnies. Jihyo-unnie, Mina-unnie, Sana-unnie.” Tzuyu exclaimed happily, then her expression turned thoughtful. “And Momo-unnie too. Momo-unnie like eat sweet food, so Tzuyu bring her icecream. Momo-unnie love Tzuyu again.”

The older girls failed to understand what was going on behind the scene, nor did they really grasp Tzuyu’s musing to herself. So they merely followed the catgirl as she merrily took home the carton of chocolate chips icecream, which Jeongyeon knew to be Momo’s favorite.

Only after they got home and Tzuyu seemed bent on waiting at the door, without putting the treat in the fridge, did Nayeon decide to intervene.

“Tzuyu-ah, I know you miss them, but if you keep it outside for too long the icecream will melt.” Nayeon advised with an amused tone, though she did not dare make a move to take the carton hand put it in the fridge herself. The incident with the jokbal still lingered in her mind, and she was not taking any chances.

“Tzuyu want wait, unnies get home, give unnies food. They happy.” Not quite getting the physics down yet, Tzuyu replied enthusiastically. Nayeon at this point wondered which would melt first, the icecream or her heart when she saw those sparkling eyes on the catgirl’s adorable smiling face. She did not have it in her heart to insist, so the eldest just shook her head.

“If you’re happy then it’s okay, Tzuyu-ah.”

With that they went quiet, with Nayeon proceeding to mind her own business, and Tzuyu sitting still and staring intently at the dorm entrance.

After a few minutes, Jeongyeon stepped out from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head. She was surprised to see Tzuyu exactly where she had been after they got home.

“Yo, Tzuyu, you’re still there? The others won’t be home for a while though.” Seeing Tzuyu’s disappointed frown, the short-haired girl hurriedly added. “But maybe Momo will. She will probably get something to eat before heading out again.”

As if on cue, a click sounded at the front door, making both girls look up.

“Speak of the devil.” The hairstyle was enough to help Jeongyeon confirm her argument, and she grinned. “Hey Momo! We were waiting for you.”

Her self-satisfied grin soon turned into a frown when she saw Momo storm in with a highly unpleasant attitude, if not outright hostile. It did not seem particularly welcoming, yet Tzuyu failed to grasp the dire situation.

“No wait, Tzu…” Jeongyeon never got to finish her sentence, as the catgirl already sprang to action.

“Momo-unnie!” Tzuyu excitedly stood up and held the icecream carton to the dancer’s face with a proud smile. “Tzuyu go out today, buy icecream for Momo-unnie.”

Momo stopped in her tracks, glaring long and hard at the cheerful girl in front of her, her expression not unlike a feral animal. Then, with a spiteful swipe, Momo knocked the carton clean off Tzuyu’s outstretched hands. The icecream within, long since melted, splattered all over the floor.

“Hey!” Jeongyeon shouted indignantly. “What did you do that for? Tzuyu bought that for you!!”

“SO WHAT!!!” Shouted Momo back. “I DON’T CARE!!!” Without looking at the stunned roommate, she proceeded to run straight into her room, and Mina took it upon herself to follow suit. The situation had gone beyond downhill.

Jihyo wasted no time rushing to the devastated girl, currently kneeling on the floor with shock. She did not seem to register as Jihyo pulled her onto her laps, and only when she recognized the usual soothing voice did she start to cry.

“T-Tzuyu only want t-try make Momo-unnie happy…” Tzuyu managed to say between uncontrollable waves of hiccups. “Why Momo-unnie h-hate Tzuyu so much…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“Jihyo-unnie…” Tzuyu continued amidst her tears. “Tzuyu learn new words today. Salty… water from eyes salty.”

This simple, innocent sentence broke Jihyo’s heart entirely. Tears streamed down her own face as she cried, tightly hugging the catgirl she had come to love and care for so much.

“That’s right, Tzuyu-ah…” She choked out. “That’s right. Good Tzuyu. Good Tzuyu.”


End file.
